In this final entry of the Fairlight mini-series on VFXstudy, Gavin Lucas dives deep into music editing workflows in DaVinci Resolve Studio. The focus is on efficiently working with music stems, remixing tracks, and aligning edits precisely to the music’s beat using Fairlight’s powerful grid tools.
The tutorial kicks off by showcasing the Music Remixer, a neural engine-powered tool exclusive to Resolve Studio. This tool lets you isolate or adjust different elements of a music track-vocals, drums, bass, etc.-directly in the Edit or Fairlight pages. As an alternative to the Music Remixer, you can directly import stems.
Another interesting feature our partner audiio.com offers is Linkmatch AI, an advanced search feature that allows you to find new music similar to reference tracks. Gavin provides the link to a Spotify song. The AI matches the vibe and instrumentation, which is especially useful when working around copyright limitations.
With the new track imported, the next step is beat synchronization. Manual Marking - Simply play the track and tap the “M” key to place markers on each beat. Once aligned, you can snap edits and video clips to the beat grid, ensuring perfect sync.
Final Thoughts
This tutorial comprehensively examines blending audio and visual elements in DaVinci Resolve Fairlight. From remixing tracks with DaVinci Resolve Studio’s Neural Engine tools to precise beat-based editing using tempo grids, it’s packed with techniques that streamline the process and spark creativity.
One of my least favorite things about editing is trying to find the perfect song for a project because I'll find something that sounds really good, but it will have that one annoying noise throughout, or it will have vocals when I don't want them. And yeah, I know that a lot of music sites will now let you download individual stems, but sometimes I don't know which sound I'm looking to get rid of, and I find it to be more of a hassle to do that than to just try and find another song. But now we don't have to worry about that because DaVinci Resolve 19, the beta version, has just come out with an amazing music tool.
Okay, so we're in the edit page with this music track. Let's have a quick listen before we start doing things like removing the vocals. Just going to create an outpoint here and an inpoint here and turn loop on so that it plays over and over as we make changes. And while this tool is absolutely incredible, this one particular thing is a massive oversight from Resolve. It's just confusing, and I hope they address it. So, you have to click here on the track, like right over here, to be able to access and see Music Remixer. Now we can turn it on and check this out. You can mute the vocals, the drums, guitar, and so on, and you can use these sliders to increase or decrease the volume of them. Let's have a listen.
There was a lot in this town. It had a really nice sparkle. It was a lot. If you want a different view to work with this, you can click over here to open this window up, make any adjustments you'd like. And just an FYI, since we used Music Remixer on this audio one track, any other audio that we bring on this track will also be affected.
To learn more, have a look at Gavin Lucas's comprehensive Fairlight training course. By clicking “Accept All”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. However, you may visit "Cookie Settings" to provide a controlled consent.
With beat-based editing, neural-engine tools, and stem-centric workflows, DaVinci Resolve Studio provides a robust environment for music remixes that align tightly with visuals, enabling efficient, creative workflows for post-production teams.
How to use the Music Remixer in Davinci Resolve 19
Key steps highlighted in the workflow include importing or isolating stems, using the Music Remixer to adjust vocals, drums, and other elements, and employing tempo grids for precise beat alignment when snapping edits and video cuts to the beat grid.